Richard Stallman: The Problem With Bitcoin

Reporter

Richard Stallman, the outspoken president of the Free Software Foundation, says that digital cash is a good way to preserve individual privacy online, as long as people can use it anonymously.

“The problem with bitcoin is that it’s not anonymous,” he told CIO Journal. People are trying to add anonymity on top of bitcoin, he added.

Mr. Stallman is an activist who promotes computer user freedom and campaigns against proprietary software and digital rights management. The Free Software Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that any user can study the source code of a free program, modify it and share it. In this context, freedom is a matter of liberty, not price. He’s also against using technology for surveillance of citizens.

Mr. Stallman, who goes to great lengths to preserve his privacy, says a better approach to digital currency was invented by cryptographer David Chaum in the 1980s. Mr. Chaum would go on to start an electronic cash company in 1990 called DigiCash. Mr. Stallman said the benefit of this approach was that the communication between the customer and the system was done in such a way that transactions were anonymous. DigiCash declared bankruptcy in 1998.

“We need to stop websites from tracking people,” he said. If people can pay for services using digital cash, then the websites don’t need to track people for advertising purposes. The problem, he said, is that most websites simply don’t have any alternative to make money because payment on the Internet is somewhat inconvenient and not anonymous. “If we make it easy for any site to charge for its services directly and anonymously with digital cash…you pay a little bit – it won’t cost much,” he said.

Mr. Stallman said he doesn’t purchase anything over the Internet. In fact, he doesn’t even browse the Internet from his own computer but, instead, uses computers at MIT that he has permission to use and various libraries. “I do this so my browsing can’t be associated with me and then I don’t identify myself,” he said, adding, “I don’t have the Internet profiles that most Internet users have.”

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited's fourth annual Millennial Survey reveals the business activities and outcomes members of Generation Y would prioritize if they held leadership positions. In highlighting millennials' priorities, the survey results draw attention to this generation's values and the themes large enterprises should speak to if they wish to attract and retain members of this rising workforce.